To wish on a falling star
by The Marauder's Map
Summary: Harry finds himself in the Marauders time, taking an unexpected guest along for the journey. H/G + L/J. CHAPTER 8 IS UP! To make up for our long absense it's longer than usual. So Harry knows that Lily knows, what will happen now?
1. Who the hell are you?

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: You all know it all anyway but here it goes, we don't own anything! We are just playing with J.K. Rowling's characters!  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (S.Padfoot is her split personality) proudly present this fic! Nobody wanted to be Wormtail, well can you blame them? Ever heard the phrase `be careful what you wish for because it might come true'? Hint...hint...hint! Anyway this is for all you wonderful H/G shippers, other ships more than welcome to read but you have been warned. Also L/J, the best ship ever and the greatest couple of all time! We are still carrying on with our Roger Davies story `Two bludgers to the stomach and one to head' so don't despair Roger Davies fans! It's just we really like where this story is going.  
  
To wish on a falling star  
  
Chapter 1- Who the hell are you?  
  
The only sound that could be heard was a faint whistling of the wind, as it gently blew around the grounds of Hogwarts, making trees sway to a silent beat. Suddenly it was joined by another sound; one of crunching footsteps along the twisting gravel path. Harry Potter shivered and pulled his cloak tighter around himself, as the wind whipped it out behind him. He carried on walking. Entering the deserted Quidditch pitch, he hesitated. The idea of flying certainly did appeal to him, however he had left his Firebolt in the dormitory, so instead opted for a seat in the stands. His jet black hair blew in the heavy breeze, making it even more tousled than before. Taking off his glasses, he rubbed his weary emerald green eyes.  
  
He needed to get out of the common room; it was driving him insane. The way people stared at him with pity, some looked slightly anxious, others just looked down-right scared. People didn't really seem to understand what was happening, but they all knew it involved Harry. Ever since last year, the end of Harry's fourth year, things had been bad. Ever since Voldemort had returned deaths had increased, Cedric had only been the first and Harry felt the guilt weighing him down. However this wasn't the only thing that was tearing him up inside.  
  
Reflecting back on this a few months later Harry still couldn't stop the aching in the pit of his stomach when he remembered the silvery ghosts of his parents emerging from the tip of Voldemort's wand. He hadn't realised at the time, but at the back of his mind he wanted to give up, wanted to die, if only for the chance to be with his parents. However he wouldn't let himself give up, he couldn't let himself give up and allow Voldemort to win. His parents had died for a reason and he wasn't about to let them down.  
  
Placing his head in his hands, Harry sat still, in his mind picturing one of his favourite photographs of his parents. They were sat in the Quidditch stadium, arms wrapped around each other and smiling happily. Occasionally Sirius would fly past, whip out his wand and charm James' robes to disappear, Lily's hair to flash different colours or transfigure their seats into to anything with teeth. Remus would fly past trying to conceal his laughter before accio-ing Sirius away from the two lovebirds. One time James had grabbed his broom and gone after Sirius but usually he just changed himself back and decided to hold Lily instead. Harry allowed himself a small smile as he opened his eyes and lifted his gaze to fall upon the bright twinkling stars.  
  
A shivering Ginny Weasley slowly made her way across the Hogwarts grounds and towards the Quidditch pitch because for once she wanted to be alone. Usually this wasn't a problem; she didn't have very many friends and was easily forgotten about. Usually she would have given anything for some company or even a little acknowledgement from the other students but today was a different story, all she wanted was some peace and quiet.  
  
She had tried to read in her dormitory but the other fourth year girls had made that impossible with their giggling over the newest addition of Witch Weekly. A mumbling Ron interrupted her in the common room, apparently he and Hermione had gotten into another fight over homework, somehow throwing Viktor Krum and Fleur Delacour into the equation. Ginny had then opted for the library but was cornered by Hermione and heard `Ron is a git' twenty times before she could escape. Then on their way back from detention Fred and George had found her sitting in the corridor outside Gryffindor tower and pestered her to try their new invention for `Weasley Wizard Wheezes', well after she had heard the very funny story of their latest prank. The Quidditch stadium was her last resort.  
  
As Ginny entered the Quidditch pitch her heart gave a jolt as she spotted the person sat in the stands. It was Harry sat alone, head in hands. He seemed lost in thought but Ginny noticed his pained expression, her heart sank. She stood still not being able to tear her eyes away from the boy in front of her, let alone turn around and walk away. Ginny mentally cursed herself for being such an obsessive idiot and then Harry for making her feel the way she did.  
  
Harry still hadn't noticed her, she could leave now and save herself any embarrassment, but it wasn't that easy and she couldn't do it. Ginny continued to watch as his pained expression faded into a thoughtful one. Her heart leapt to her throat as he lifted his head and a small smile crossed his lips. Still not being spotted, Ginny followed Harry's gaze as he lifted it towards the sky.  
  
Harry's smile faded and he let out a sigh as he concentrated on the stars above. After noticing several constellations he became bored and began to make his own. `I suppose that looks like a broom,' he thought to himself. `Ugh! A blast-ended screwt, a pumpkin pasty- oh that makes me hungry, a flower, a stag, shooting star, a snitch.... SHOOTING STAR!' His green eyes went wide and focused on the flash of white and gold light.  
  
"I wish..." Harry muttered to himself, took a deep breath and closed his eyes tight.  
  
Ginny's eyes scanned the sky of bright stars, wondering what Harry was thinking about at that precise moment, she snuck a glance his way. She noticed his eyes had gone wide so she quickly directed her gaze to where he was staring. The flash of white and gold light caused Ginny's jaw to drop as her own brown eyes went wide. Blinking she focused on Harry once again and then back at the shooting star.  
  
"I wish..." she muttered to herself, before shutting her eyes tight.  
  
It seemed as if there was an explosion of light before everything plunged into darkness in the blink of an eye. The dizziness cleared as emerald green eyes met chocolate brown ones.  
  
"Who the hell are you?"  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
Well, what do you think? Don't be afraid to click on the review button, I mean what is the use of freedom of speech if we don't use it? Flames as usual used to toast Wormtail but even though we hate the creep nice reviews better (we can think of a more gruesome way to make that prat Pettigrew suffer!) 


	2. Reflections and explanations

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: The usual; we own nothing it all belongs to J.K Rowling. We are making no money from this (would be cool if we did though), and if you tried to sue us all I can say is good luck because we've got nothing!  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (S.Padfoot is her split personality) proudly present this fic! Nobody wanted to be Wormtail, well can you blame them? Decided to upload chapter 2 as well. If you've got as far as the next chapter we salute you!  
  
Chapter 2- Reflections and explanations  
  
Harry and Ginny's locked gazes dropped as they both spun around and caught sight of another figure approaching.  
  
"Who are you?" the figure asked again stepping into the moonlight. Jaws dropped as a boy of about seventeen years old stepped forward. After a few moments Harry spoke in a shaky voice.  
  
"Dad?" James Potter's eyes went wide, confusion clouding his face. This boy, whoever he was, seemed to be very mistaken. He didn't have a child, he was only seventeen and this boy must be fourteen or fifteen. James was about to point this out, when he saw the boy properly for the first time. `My God!' he thought, feeling slightly numb with shock. `He looks so like me!' Shaking himself out of a trance, James heard the girl speak.  
  
"Harry, what's going on?" Ginny hadn't realised that she had edged closer to Harry, he didn't seem to either; his gaze was fixed on James.  
  
"I don't know, Ginny. Really I don't know!" Harry shook his head. Just what was going on? Maybe it was a dream, but then why was Ginny in it?  
  
"Well, someone's got to!" Ginny seemed to be panicking now. James, still in a state of confusion, suddenly had an idea.  
  
"I think we'd better go see Dumbledore."  
  
"Fizzing whizbee." The stone gargoyle swung open, revealing a winding staircase. James led the way, occasionally sneaking glances at Harry, then shaking his head. The three had been quiet since they left the Quidditch pitch; anymore conversation would probably confuse them even more. Ginny had taken in her surroundings as she stayed close to Harry. It was definitely Hogwarts, it looked exactly the same, but was yet different. Ginny was brought out of her thoughts by a loud knocking.  
  
"Come in." James pushed open the large oak door, turning to let Harry and Ginny in first. As the students entered, Dumbledore raised his head. A noticeable younger Professor McGonagall gave them a bewildered look.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt, Sir." James began, but was cut off by Dumbledore, who smiled warmly at him.  
  
"Quite all right, James. So what is it you need to see me about?" Again Dumbledore looked pointedly at the two new arrivals. James took a deep breath, thinking that what he was about to say was crazy. But come to that, would anything at Hogwarts ever surprise Dumbledore?  
  
"Well, you see Sir, I was getting in some extra practice on the Quidditch pitch." McGonagall gave her star player a small smile. "Anyway, I was out on the Quidditch pitch, when there was this flash of light and they appeared out of nowhere." He quickly gestured towards Harry and Ginny, who seemed to be staring at the teachers in awe. None of this seemed to faze Dumbledore, although he did look slightly puzzled.  
  
"Thank you James. Would you might waiting outside?" Shaking his head, James left, giving Harry one last glance. There was silence for a few moments, before Dumbledore spoke.  
  
"I think we'd better establish who you are, where you came from, and how you got here." He gestured for them to sit down, which they did. Both still looking very shocked. Harry was deep in thought, and only just heard Ginny meekly say her name.  
  
"H-Harry Potter." He replied, when Dumbledore looked questioningly at him. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at Harry's answer.  
  
"May I ask what your parents are called?" Harry took a deep breath, what was going on. He felt incredibly dizzy and felt like he was going insane.  
  
"Lily and James Potter." McGonagall let out a small gasp. Dumbledore rose from his seat and looked intently at Harry.  
  
"What is the year?" The headmaster asked, giving a quick glance to Professor McGonagall, who seriously looked like she would faint any minute.  
  
"1995. Professor Dumbledore, I really don't know what's going on here." Harry glanced at Ginny, who was deadly pale and seemed to be trembling. He didn't know what possessed him to do it, but he reached for her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. Ginny tensed slightly but then slowly began to stop trembling.  
  
"That would make two of us Mr Potter," Dumbledore sighed slightly.  
  
"Y-you don't th-think it was you-know-who d-do you Harry?" Ginny stuttered.  
  
"You-know-who?" Professor McGonagall questioned, Harry let his concerned gaze drift from Ginny to Professor McGonagall and then to Dumbledore.  
  
"Lord Voldemort." Harry spat out with venom and Ginny winced.  
  
"Why Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked noticing Ginny wince at the mention of his name again.  
  
"Because Sir, he is trying to kill me." Harry spoke simply and Professor McGonagall gave a short gasp.  
  
There was silence for a few moments as Dumbledore thought intently, he then spoke.  
  
"May I inquire to which school years the two of you are in? Until we establish how and why you have graced us with a visit, I think it best for you to continue with your studies." Harry nodded slightly before answering.  
  
"Fifth year."  
  
"Fourth," Ginny spoke quietly and shakily.  
  
"Well, tomorrow I will inform the rest of the school of the arrival of our latest exchange students and you will begin your lessons Monday."  
  
"Um, excuse me Sir?" Harry asked watching Ginny turn slightly green and felt protective over her. Dumbledore offered Harry his undivided attention. "It's just that I...well I feel that we should stay together."  
  
"I understand Mr Potter, however-"  
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt Professor but Ginny is extremely smart and I'll work hard to help her catch up, please?" Ginny stared at Harry in surprise and then at Dumbledore pleadingly. He smiled warmly as his bright eyes twinkled.  
  
"I will give my consent if Miss Weasley is prepared to dedicate her time to complete the work." Ginny nodded vigorously. "Very well then. Minerva, please escort Miss Weasley to the hospital wing where she can get rested, Mr Potter will follow shortly and tell James that I will be with him in a few moments." Ginny was escorted out by Professor McGonagall and as the door shut Dumbledore turned to Harry.  
  
"I think you better start from the beginning, Harry."  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
Please review! As usual flames will be used to toast Wormtail but if you are nice we will make him suffer more! You have to tell us what you think or we won't know if anyone wants us to keep writing this fic! 


	3. It wasn't a dream, was it?

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: You know the routine by now! But if you feel the need for a disclaimer look at one of the previous chapters.  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (S.Padfoot is her split personality) proudly present this fic! Nobody wanted to be Wormtail! Ok, first of all a HUGE THANKYOU to our reviewers, you guys rock! Particularly biggerstaffluver, not only do you have extremely good taste (Sean Biggerstaff Grrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!) but you have reviewed all of our stories and we love you for it! Oh and to Smile7499, S.Prongs (and S.Padfoot) have been thinking about what you said about Harry just saying `Dad?' and you're right. If you saw you dead dad as a teenager you may be like `holy shit! You are supposed to be dead!' but different people react in different ways and there is the fact that I can't be bothered to change it for something better. Anyway keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Chapter 3- It wasn't a dream, was it?  
  
James made his way to Gryffindor tower in a cloud of confused thought. What a day he was having! First he had seen two people appear out of thin air and he knew you could not apparate on Hogwarts grounds. Then one of them, who looked remarkably like James, had claimed to be his son. After waiting for ages outside Dumbledore's office, James had finally been told that this was indeed his son who had somehow time travelled from the year 1995. He was to pretend that this boy was his cousin who had just transferred from Beauxbatons and was not permitted to ask much of the future because of the consequences, and James had thought that after seeing Sirius in a dress nothing would surprise him.  
  
"Chivalry." The portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and James climbed through.  
  
"Yo Jamie-boy, you look rough. What, you just encountered your psycho Hufflepuff fan club or something?" Sirius slapped his best friend on the back as he sat on the sofa next to him.  
  
"No, he's still got his clothes on this time?" Remus informed Sirius from his armchair opposite.  
  
"Right you are Moony old boy, so Prongs what's up?" James shook his head to this question.  
  
"Nothing, just some family stuff."  
  
"Your Uncle Eric hasn't turned your Aunt Sylvia into a moose again has he?" James smiled slightly at Remus' question but shook his head.  
  
"Grandfather's quit the ministry and joined the circus?" Sirius grinned, James thought for a minute but shook his head.  
  
"So what is it, what's wrong?" Peter asked from his seat on the other side of Sirius.  
  
"Yeah, what's wrong James?" a soft voice spoke behind them, they all turned to see a pretty girl with deep auburn hair and sparkling emerald green eyes. James smiled at his girlfriend, Lily Evans.  
  
"Nothing!" James tried to reassure but Lily was not convinced.  
  
"He says it's family stuff and we've narrowed it down to his aunt is not a moose and his Grandfather has not run off with the circus." Sirius informed. James grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her around the sofa and on to his lap. 'Here goes nothing' James thought to himself, he always had a hard time lying to his friends.  
  
"It's only I've just found out my cousin has just transferred to Hogwarts from Beauxbatons and I was just a little surprised."  
  
"Another Potter, God help Hogwarts." Sirius grinned like it was Christmas, I mean another Potter could be very useful especially if they were anything like James. Then a thought seemed to strike him. "Hang on which cousin? I thought all of your cousins had left Hogwarts." James mentally cursed Sirius for knowing him and his family so well; he was making lying very difficult.  
  
"Well," James began, "we don't really talk about this cousin."  
  
"Why?" Remus raised his eyebrows curiously. 'Oh crap, come on James you're a Marauder you can do this' James' mind was racing for an excuse.  
  
"Well our fathers had a huge argument and haven't spoken in years." James answered simply and mentally congratulated himself for being so calm. This seemed to satisfy his fellow Marauders partly because they were hungry and wanted to go to the kitchens rather than challenge their best friend, as far as they knew he could be telling the truth. Lily however did not seem convinced and James noticed this by her quizzical expression but she didn't say anything.  
  
The light peeked through the window, shinning on the face of a sleeping boy. Grumbling he rolled over, not wanting to wake up. He had been having a good dream, a dream where he (and somehow Ginny) had travelled back in time. He had seen his father alive.  
  
Eventually Harry opened one tired eye soon followed by the other and nearly jumped out of bed in shock. Ginny Weasley was lying in the bed next to his, did that mean what he thought it meant?  
  
"Harry?" Ginny's soft voice broke through Harry's thoughts. She was sat up in bed, a troubled expression across her face. "It wasn't a dream, was it?" Harry shook his head in disbelief.  
  
"I don't think so." Both were silent for a while, after all they had a lot to think about and a lot to let sink in. Finally Ginny broke the silence.  
  
"W-what if we can't get back home? What are we going to do?"  
  
`What are we going to do?' That question echoed in Harry's head, the thought of staying at Hogwarts with his parents did not seem such a daunting idea to him as Ginny had expressed in her voice. He could get to know his parents, and spend time with Sirius and Remus. Then a thought struck him, what if he could somehow save his parents?  
  
Ginny seemed to have read his mind as she sadly but determinedly answered his question. "You know Harry, we have to be careful," Harry looked at her quizzically for a moment but she soon continued. "The future is not something you can mess with, no matter what the future holds or how good the intentions are, the consequences of messing with it could be much worse."  
  
Harry thought about this for a few minutes, `What could be worse than losing you're parents before you ever got a chance to know them?' Then he thought of Voldemort and if it wasn't for his father's bravery and his mother's sacrifice Voldemort may never have been defeated and thousands more who would have died.  
  
"Yeah," Harry said downheartedly. "I suppose so."  
  
Ginny looked sympathetically towards Harry, her heart was breaking for him.  
  
"I know it must be hard for you and I wish we could change it but it's wrong to alter the course of the future, Dumbledore taught us that."  
  
This was true and something Dumbledore had repeated to Harry the night before, but for a moment there Harry had forgotten this, he had forgotten most things. Dumbledore himself did not wish to know much of the future just Harry's link with Voldemort. Harry revealed a modified version of his story as the `boy who lived' leaving much information out about, his parents, Sirius and Wormtail. All Dumbledore knew was Harry was an important factor to the downfall of Voldemort.  
  
"I know, I wish I could though. Not just for my parents but for Sirius too." Harry unintentionally said this out loud.  
  
"S-Sirius, as in Sirius Black? The murderer?" Ginny said shakily with a look of horror across her face. She had gone rather pale and began to shake again. Harry approached her bed and sat down.  
  
"Well, that's not entirely true."  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
PLEASE REVIEW! Go on, you know you want to! Just click on the review button and tell us what you think, is it that simple! Please give us an incentive to continue. As usual flames are accepted and used to fry that little git Wormtail but we promise it will be more painful for the prat if you are nice! 


	4. Bonjour to a different Hogwarts

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: You know the routine by now! But if you feel the need for a disclaimer look at chapters 1 or 2.  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (S.Padfoot is her split personality) proudly present this fic! Ok, first of all a HUGE THANKYOU to our reviewers, you guys rock! Keep up the excellent job you are all doing in reviewing this story! Sorry this chapter took a lot longer than the others did but blame stupid college work (it's as EVIL as Pettigrew).  
  
  
  
Chapter 4- Bonjour to a different Hogwarts  
  
"Twist and shout, c'mon c'mon now baby, now c'mon baby, twist and shout, twist and-"  
  
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" James yelled, shoving his head under his pillow. The bathroom door opened and Sirius slid across the dormitory in just a towel.  
  
"Whoa! Jamie-boy's cranky this morning! I know what would cheer him up, a nice little song." Sirius began to sing again, sliding around the dormitory and shaking his ass in what he saw as a dance routine.  
  
"Sirius leave him alone and spare all of our ears," Remus' groaned from his bed.  
  
"Black, I'm warning you!" James said dangerously. Sirius being a self- proclaimed 'dare-devil' ignored James' warning and sang louder. "That's it! You asked for it Black!" James jumped out of bed, pushed Sirius out of the door swiping his towel in the process and put a locking charm on the door. James got back into bed as the amused and shocked Remus and Peter stared at each other, Sirius' knocking and verbal cursing being the only sound that could be heard.  
  
A few moments later there was a huge outbreak of laughter, soon after the door opened and Sirius entered.  
  
"But, how did you-" Peter began and then spotted the two girls stood behind him, one with their wand raised.  
  
"Ah Peter, I am just a genius."  
  
"Yeah, genius here came down to the common room, a few things missing," Lily informed them. "Like his clothes and a few million brain cells." The others all began to laugh.  
  
"Hey James, next time let Sirius keep the towel, he could have traumatised some of the younger years." Jennifer Moody said between laughs.  
  
"What are you wearing?" Remus nodded to the scarlet material that was wrapped around Sirius' waist.  
  
"A curtain." Sirius stated simply.  
  
"So you can add vandalism as well as indecent exposure to your list of activities this morning then."  
  
James hadn't said a word through this; he just lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. Lily approached his bed and sat down.  
  
"James?" Lily spoke gently, "James, what's wrong?" James tore his eyes away from the ceiling and stared at Lily for a moment. His gaze then went around the room to the others, Sirius grinned and waved to show that he was back.  
  
"Nothing, I was just thinking, that's all."  
  
"You don't look well, you look as if you haven't slept in awhile."  
  
"Sirius snores." James grinned.  
  
"I do not!"  
  
Ginny sat on the bed nervously fidgeting with the hem of her robe while waiting for Harry to get changed into his robes. She had a lot to take in and a lot to be nervous about. Not only did she somehow time travel it just happened to be with Harry the guy she has a huge crush on. Not only had she met Harry's father, it was his dead father as a teenager. She had found out that a known murderer was in fact not a murderer and she had to make sure she didn't say anything about the future. However, the most daunting and hardest thing for Ginny was the fact of starting Hogwarts again.  
  
Last time that happened she had made virtually no friends, embarrassed herself a countless number of times, was labelled a nobody and pretty much ignored. The only time anyone acknowledged her was usually because she was the sister of the famous Weasley brothers.  
  
She wondered if Harry would leave her alone to spend all of his time with his parents and forget about her, kind of like what her brothers did. She was a burden to them, their annoying little sister who they wouldn't let be involved in their lives but wouldn't let have one of her own. 'No,' she thought sadly. 'Harry probably won't even notice what I do anyway.'  
  
"Ginny?" Harry's voice broke into Ginny's thoughts. She turned to see Harry in his black Hogwarts robes and Dumbledore stood in the doorway smiling.  
  
"Ah, Miss Weasley, it is nice of you to join us," Ginny blushed and muttered an apology. "No my dear girl, nothing to apologise for. One often gets lost in thought and thinking is a rather good gift to possess, I do it myself now and again." This caused both Harry and Ginny to smile, it seemed as if Dumbledore was always quite mad.  
  
Dumbledore escorted Harry and Ginny to the Great Hall receiving quite a few curious stares, for one thing the headmaster did not usually walk the corridors especially with students and for another most people didn't know who they were (although a few students did say "hi James" to Harry).  
  
The Great Hall was nearly full and as they entered the stares increased. As Dumbledore led them up front to the teacher's table, Harry spotted his dad at the Gryffindor table. Butterflies erupted in Harry's stomach as he caught a glimpse of the girl sat next to him, a girl with auburn hair and sparkling emerald green eyes.  
  
Dumbledore stood at the front smiling happily to himself while he waited for everyone's attention, he did not have to wait long as they were all way too curious.  
  
"Ah, I am most apologetic for interrupting your breakfast, although I am quite surprised I must say to see so many of you up this early on a Sunday. Anyway, I have a very important announcement and two delightful young students for you all to meet," Dumbledore said with some enthusiasm as students were now craning their necks to have a good look. "We are privileged to be joined by two fifth year exchange students from Beauxbatons, Miss Virginia Weasley and Mr Harry Potter." Whispers erupted through the hall and many gazes flickered from James to Harry and back. "The sorting hat has already placed them both into Gryffindor house, but I ask you all to make them feel very welcome." Dumbledore's gaze flickered towards the Slytherin table, where no one looked in the slightest bit ready to be friendly. "Ah, and oh yes one more thing, in connection with the colour changing chain letter, next time please refrain from sending me one, I quite clashed." Dumbledore smiled in the direction of the Marauders, waved his hand for everyone to continue breakfast and ushered Harry and Ginny towards the Gryffindor table.  
  
They were headed towards the only empty seats, which were at the end of the table when Harry heard his name being called.  
  
"Hey Potter!" Harry turned to see Sirius calling him over while trying to shove some other students up. They finally moved up when Remus had asked them politely and Sirius stood grinning, pointing to the two empty seats. "Come sit with us and bring the lovely lady!" Ginny blushed slightly at the compliment, followed Harry over to the Marauders and sat down.  
  
"Hi, so you're James' cousin?" Remus looked from Harry to James and then back again. "The family resemblance is quite remarkable," he added. It was silent for a moment as everyone's attention was directed towards Harry and James.  
  
"Well, I just hope the resemblance spans further than their looks because with another Potter we can really wreak some havoc around this place." Sirius had a mischievous glint in his eye. James and Harry were both silent, this was still a little overwhelming for them both.  
  
"Weasley?" Lily took her eyes off Harry for a moment and asked Ginny kindly, Ginny nodded. "Are you any relation to Arthur Weasley? He left several years ago now, but you have the same hair and eyes." At first Ginny didn't know what to say but eventually she nodded.  
  
"Arthur? Yes, we're related, distantly though." Lily smiled and Ginny smiled back.  
  
"Virginia, isn't it?" Jennifer asked.  
  
"I prefer Ginny," Ginny said quietly, Lily smiled again.  
  
"Ginny, it is. I'm Lily and this is Jennifer."  
  
"You don't really want to know the others, they are complete gits!" Jennifer gestured towards the Marauders.  
  
"How can you say such a thing?" Sirius asked rather dramatically.  
  
"Ok," Jennifer looked apologetic. "Remus over there is really nice, that one Peter can be quite sweet, James is really funny but Sirius is still a real git."  
  
"Ginny my dear, do not believe a word this girl tells you, she is a Moody therefore she is not mentally stable. Her Uncle is an auror called 'Mad- eye' Moody and his name suits him perfectly as it is not just by name but by nature." Sirius received an elbow in the ribs for this.  
  
"My Uncle Alastor is not mad, a little eccentric yes, and I am in no way mentally unstable."  
  
"Yes, is that what the nice doctor's tell you in St Mungos?" Sirius received another elbow in the ribs and a kick in the shin.  
  
"Do they often put you in a straight jacket when you become this violent or is it into the padded room?" Jennifer then shoved Sirius' head into his breakfast.  
  
"See, what did I tell you? A real git!"  
  
"So," an amused Remus spoke up watching Sirius pull bacon from his hair. "You both went to Beauxbatons? What's it like?" Ginny and Harry looked at each other.  
  
"Not that much different from here I suspect." James spoke for the first time and both Harry and Ginny were grateful and agreed.  
  
"Why didn't you come to Hogwarts?" Peter asked.  
  
"Well, um…it's because our fathers are aurors abroad and our families all live in France, so…well, so they thought it would be useful if we went to a school which spoke the French language." Harry answered a little unsure whether this would be accepted.  
  
"So, did you speak French all the time?" Peter seemed interested. Harry had to contain himself, he didn't want to answer Peter's question, he just wanted to spit in his eye and beat his brains out. He tried to make himself remember that in this time Peter wasn't supposed to be evil and was one of his parents best friends, but it was hard.  
  
"Uh, no." Harry said simply.  
  
"Can you speak some French for us, though? Remus now seemed just as interested as Peter. James and Harry both looked at each other, not knowing what to do until Ginny began to speak. They were all in awe at how she seemed to speak French fluently with an almost perfect accent.  
  
"Whoa! I couldn't understand a word you said," Sirius said in amazement. "Do you think you could teach me? It would be great to confuse those Slytherin prats with."  
  
"What did you say?" Jennifer asked eagerly.  
  
"I just said, 'I think Hogwarts is going to be a lot nicer than Beuxbatons, as we get to speak our first language English more often and the people seem a lot nicer, well apart from Slytherin house'."  
  
"Too true," Sirius said rather seriously picking up his goblet. "But I propose we hold a toast for our beauxbaton buddies. Welcome to Hogwarts and the time of your lives!"  
  
  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
Wahoo another chapter finished! So people we kept writing so you gotta keep reviewing or you'll never find out what's gonna happen! Think about it! 


	5. The cure for boredom

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: You know the routine by now! But if you feel the need for a disclaimer look at chapters 1 or 2. Plus we kinda use a line from 'She's all that', you know the film, you'll know the line.  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (split personality S.Padfoot) proudly present this fic! Sorry it took so long to update but writers block is such a bitch and tons of college work doesn't help! OK, first of all a HUGE THANKYOU to our reviewers, you guys rock! WAHOO!!!!!!!! We are on the favourites list of two members (THANKYOU SO MUCH!).  
  
So, here we are at chapter 5 and we feel as if we've all been through so much together. I mean you can not time travel, meet the dead and witness Sirius without his clothes and not bond! So we're just going to say hi, how are you all? (You know you could always answer in a review, hint, hint!). Ok, sorry that was wrong and sneaky but what do you expect we are mischievous, we are Marauders!  
  
Read the author note at the bottom when you are finished, it is a life and death situation for this fic!  
  
  
  
Chapter 5- The cure for boredom  
  
Harry walked down the corridor, aware that he was receiving many curious stares. 'Great!' he groaned inwardly. 'It's the same, no matter what year I'm in.' Trying desperately to ignore them, he sped up slightly, moving closer to Ginny.  
  
"Why are they all staring?" She whispered this, but apparently not quiet enough.  
  
"Well, you have to admit, it is kind of weird to have two new students in the middle of the school year." Remus turned around from watching Sirius trip Peter down the corridor.  
  
"And a Potter, after all. You see, your cousin is an institution in this place. All the boys want to be him, all the girls want to nail him." Sirius received a smack up side the head from Lily at this comment but James smiled, quite flattered. Soon they stopped outside Gryffindor tower.  
  
"What's up toots?" The Fat lady looked liked she was torn between huffing or blushing. Sirius gave another cheeky grin as Remus rolled his eye, and uttered the password. The portrait swung forward and Harry could have sworn that she had winked at Sirius. The eight of them climbed through the portrait hole (James had to stop and pull Peter through as he got stuck). On entering the common room a sudden silence fell over the room.  
  
"Told you, institution." Remus whispered to Harry, but apparently not quite enough. Lily gave him a fiery glare; he just grinned in return. Whispering broke out, making Harry feel even more uncomfortable. Ginny must have too, because he could have sworn she was clutching the back of his robes.  
  
"Don't worry," Lily smiled kindly in an attempt to reassure them. "It's just we hardly ever get new students, they're just curious."  
  
"Yeah, it'll blow over in a couple days." Jennifer offered. Ginny's grip began to loosen.  
  
Sirius began to make his way over to a nearby couch. Two third years had been gossiping quietly, but as soon as they saw Sirius heading in their direction they scampered. Harry was unsure whether it was because they were embarrassed or scared that he'd pelt them with dungbombs, or something equally marauderish. Stretching out, he put his feet on Remus who had sat beside him. This earned a hard shove, sending him sprawled on the carpet. The others laughed, as Remus remained the picture of innocence.  
  
"Why Padfoot! What are you doing on the floor?" Remus was looking positively astonished. "You know, I'm used to girls falling at my feet, but Paddy, I never knew you felt that way!" Sirius scowled and stood up, rubbing his sore behind and sticking his tongue out at Remus. James stood next to Harry, and spoke for the first time since breakfast.  
  
"Maybe we should introduce you to some people, before you get stampeded by a mad crowd of curious Gryffindors. I can see them all goggling at you two." This comment caused Ginny's grip to tighten once again. She had never been good at making friends. She was just way too shy with strangers, but if you knew her you had a hard time trying to shut her up. Harry realised her discomfort and turned, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. She seemed to relax, if only a little bit.  
  
Sirius, having heard this comment, jumped on a nearby table, then began to speak in an incredibly loud voice. The whole common room stopped what they were doing.  
  
"Attention please. As you may have noticed, another Potter has joined the ranks!" Harry felt himself blush as dozens of eyes stared in his direction. "This devilishly attractive young fifth year is Harry Potter, cousin to your very own Quidditch Captain." A group of girls in the corner began to giggle, causing Sirius to squeal in a high pitched, mocking voice. Remus, Peter (A/N: die Wormy, die!) and Jennifer smirked as Sirius received several glares.  
  
"Anyways, unlike his cousin, is young Potter single?" Sirius had now jumped off the table and was holding a microphone he had just transfigured from an empty butterbeer bottle he had kicked off the table. Not knowing what to do, Harry just shrugged, making a mental note to hex Sirius and hex him bad!  
  
"Well, that's not a no ladies." Harry could have sworn he heard even more giggling and was that a wolf-whistle? Fortunately for Harry, Sirius' attention was drawn away from him. Unfortunately, it seemed that Ginny was his next victim.  
  
"Ah, Virginia, darling!" Ginny began to turn the colour of her hair; she was burning brighter than the tips of Ron's ears when he had worn those awful maroon dress robes to the Yule ball. (A/N: bless Ron! All hail the Ron). As she tried to hide behind Harry and Remus, Sirius grabbed her wrist, bringing her forward and spinning her in a circle.  
  
"This radiant flower is Ginny Weasley. Now boys, I know you all want to know if this beautiful, young lady is single." Harry was sure that there were several whistles this time. James decided it was time to save the poor girl, thus Sirius received another smack on the head.  
  
"Sirius, that's enough. The poor girl can't get any redder!" James whispered in a hushed tone. Sirius agreed grudgingly, after all, he loved playing up to an audience. As Sirius began to sulk on the couch, James turned to the rest of the common room, still having their apt attention.  
  
"OK, show's over." Harry was amazed that everyone listened to his Dad, straight away. James now turned back to Ginny, who as of yet had still not returned to her natural colour.  
  
"Sorry about him. He is mentally unhinged. Why don't I introduce you to some of your year? I promise I won't yell it to the whole common room." Nodding slightly, Ginny began to turn back to normal. With a smile, James led Harry and Ginny over to the chessboards, where four students were huddled.  
  
"Bryan, you great oaf! You just moved your queen right into that!"  
  
"Shut up, Mary! And mind your own business, you nosy Hippogriff!" A boy and a girl sat squabbling loudly, oblivious to the newcomers. They were obviously related; both had sandy hair, grey eyes and both were glaring at each other particularly hard at this moment. They broke out of their staring match, when the other chess player looked up and spotted James.  
  
"Hi James. What can we do for you?" The others looked slightly startled, but just sat there in silence, waiting.  
  
"Alright Tom? Just thought I'd introduce you to my friends, here. And I wondered if you would show them to their dorms."  
  
"Sure thing captain." Tom mock saluted, causing James to chuckle.  
  
"Thanks. See ya later." He spoke to Harry and Ginny, before returning to the couch and pulling Lily on to his lap. Harry smiled, before turning his attention back to the new group. Tom looked very familiar to Harry, and he was trying to place it as Tom began to speak.  
  
"Hi, I'm Tom Wood. You're Harry and Ginny, right?" (A/N: Sorry we couldn't resist putting a Wood in this story, in this case it's Oliver's uncle). Without waiting for an answer, Tom continued to introduce his friends. "This is Catherine Turner." He pointed to a short girl with curly brown hair, who was curled up in an armchair, a book on her lap. She said 'hi', but wasn't able to continue as Tom began to talk once again.  
  
"She's a complete bookworm! And she likes to boss us about. She's quite loud for being so short!"  
  
"Oh, how charming! I am sitting right here, you know!" Ignoring her comment, Tom continued. "And these two fighting idiots are Mary and Bryan Connor. They're twins, if you couldn't guess. All they seem to do is fight!"  
  
"You're one to talk, big mouth!" Mary scowled in Tom's direction. "You're the one who bosses us about! You aint Quidditch Captain yet you know!"  
  
Rolling her eyes, Catherine stood up and closed her book. Turning to Ginny she smiled.  
  
"Why don't I show you the dorm. It'll get you away from the mad Irish girl and the Scottish boy on a power trip!" Ginny gave a weak smile and released Harry's robe, which she only just realised that she had been clutching.  
  
"It was nice meeting you, Harry." Catherine said as she led Ginny up the stairs. Mary quickly followed. The boys shrugged and decided to show Harry to his dorm, for lack of a better thing to do. Tom muttered all the way about how he wasn't on a power trip.  
  
James watched Harry until he disappeared. Lily caught his gaze and looked at him questioningly. He sighed, deciding for once to stick to the truth.  
  
"It's just a bit of a shock, Harry turning up here." Lily nodded encouragingly, so James continued. "I don't know. The resemblance is uncanny, maybe I'm a little overwhelmed." Kissing him gently on the lips, Lily snuggled closer to James, resting her head in the crook of his neck.  
  
"You're not the only one." Lily whispered this more to herself.  
  
"I don't get you guys," Sirius piped up after a moment of silence. "I mean, yeah he looks like Jimbo here but hey, they are related! Maybe I can slightly understand why Prongs is kinda overwhelmed but I don't get why you are, Lil."  
  
"Me neither," Lily spoke softly. "Me neither."  
  
Half an hour later the Marauders, Lily and Jennifer were still sat in their corner of the Gryffindor common room.  
  
"I'm bored!" Sirius whined loudly, catching the attention of half of the common room.  
  
"Read or something then." Jennifer suggested.  
  
"Nah." Sirius exclaimed lazily.  
  
"Chess?" Remus offered but Sirius shook his head.  
  
"Nah."  
  
"Exploding snap?" James put in.  
  
"Nah."  
  
"Gobstones?" Peter piped up.  
  
"Nah." Silence fell on the group and Sirius began to fidget. "I'm still bored!" He proclaimed loudly.  
  
"For Merlin's sake do your homework or something, we don't care, just shut up!" James was easily getting annoyed.  
  
"Nah." Sirius yawned but did shut up, well only for a few minutes. "But I'm still bored!" This caused James to gently lift Lily off his lap, stand up and launch himself at Sirius. The whole common room stopped what they were doing to watch the two friends, Sirius was half laughing, half screaming while James was trying to sound pissed off as he aimed punches at Sirius, but kept letting out small laughs.  
  
"Quidditch?" Lily spoke loudly over the muffled cursing and laughing of James and Sirius, they stopped still, both growing huge grins.  
  
"Quidditch!" They chorused, leaping up and dusting themselves off.  
  
"We could always ask Harry and Ginny if they wanna come, I mean they haven't seen the Quidditch pitch and everyone knows a Potter without Quidditch is like Snape without the grease, unheard of!" Remus closed the book he had been reading and stood up. This made James think, he'd never thought to ask Harry about Quidditch before, although he was certain Remus was wrong about one thing, he knew they'd already seen the Quidditch pitch.  
  
"OK, I'll go ask Harry, one of you girls can ask Ginny." James made his way up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Stopping outside the fifth year's dorm he knocked on the door. The door swung open to reveal what seemed to be a star struck Bryan at the sight of the James Potter in his doorway. 'Weird' Harry thought to himself.  
  
"Hey, Bryan isn't it?" Bryan nodded quickly. "Can I speak to Harry for a minute?" Bryan nodded quickly again and held the door wide open for James. Harry was sat on a bed and James noted sadly the fact he didn't really have many possessions with him, well not of his own.  
  
"Hey Captain." Tom looked up from 'Quidditch throughout the ages' momentarily.  
  
"Hey Tom." James then turned to Harry who was looking curiously at him. "Um Harry, we were wondering if you wanted to come and play Quidditch with us?" To James' own delight, Harry's eyes lit up at the word Quidditch.  
  
"Sure!" Harry couldn't contain his delight at having the chance of playing Quidditch with his Dad.  
  
The two reached the common room in time to see Sirius overtake Jennifer on the stairs to the girls' dormitories. A few seconds later there was a short scream followed by a chorus of giggles and Sirius descended the stairs carrying a struggling Ginny over one shoulder.  
  
"You… moron…! Put… me… down!" Each of these words was said with a hard punch to Sirius' back, as Ginny continued to struggle. Harry was quite shocked, he had heard that Ginny had the worst Weasley temper of the bunch, but he had thought that Ron had been kidding. Ginny was still muttering unrepeatable things as Sirius finally released her and staggered over to the couch. Rubbing his back, he gave an astonished look.  
  
"Didn't realize someone so small could punch so hard! Must be that red- headed temper." Now Sirius gave a cheeky grin. "Gosh, and I thought Lil was just PMSing." This comment earned him a swift kick to the shin, sending him sprawled on the couch.  
  
"OW! Lily what the hell was that for!"  
  
"Sorry, red-headed temper I guess." She smiled very sweetly.  
  
"Sirius!" James interrupted. "I know I told one of the girls to get Ginny, but I didn't mean you. I think you deserved those punches."  
  
"Nice, by the way." Remus congratulated Ginny, who was now over her anger and just very embarrassed that she had just assaulted an innocent, but convicted murderer.  
  
After they managed to drag Sirius up from the couch, they started to make their way outside. Harry hung at the back with Ginny, thinking she might want someone to talk too.  
  
"So, how you doing?"  
  
"Fine." The she bit her lip. "I miss Ron though." Harry nodded; he had been too busy to think about it, too overwhelmed. But now he thought about it, he did miss Ron and Hermione.  
  
"It's OK. Dumbledore will figure out a way for us to get home." Harry secretly hoped that it took him a while. Ginny seemed to read his mind.  
  
"At least you get to spend some time with your parents. They really seem to have taken to you." Harry smiled.  
  
"I think Sirius has taken quite a liking to you." Ginny blushed at this, causing Harry to grin even more. Ginny liked to see Harry smile; it had been a while. As they approached the pitch Harry sighed.  
  
"I wish I had my Firebolt." Remus had been walking close by and frowned.  
  
"What's a Firebolt?"  
  
"Oh! Just my broom." 'Yeah one that won't be available for about fifteen years' Harry thought to himself.  
  
"Never heard of it! Is it French?" Sirius inquired, eyes beaming at the prospect of a new broom. Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, before Harry spoke.  
  
"Uh, yeah. Very exclusive. My godfather brought it me." Harry smiled at Sirius, causing James to figure something out. "Unfortunately I left it at…at home." James watched Harry's expression and spoke before thinking.  
  
"Don't worry, you can use mine." This comment caused all his friends' eyes to open wide and Sirius started to open and close his mouth like a fish. James never let anyone near his broom! Remus was the first to recover and knew that James must have a reason to let Harry ride his prize possession.  
  
"So Harry. What position do you play?" Before he could answer, Ginny started to speak.  
  
"Harry is the best seeker I've ever seen! He was the youngest player on the house team for 100 years. He holds the record for the fastest catch of the snitch ever in school history! And he…" She seemed to only just realize what she was saying, and of course turned bright red.  
  
"Woah, mini- Potter's got himself… um, some Quidditch skill." Sirius was going to say fan, but stopped as he realised how red Ginny had gone, (see even Sirius has mercy).  
  
James seemed to have an extremely proud grin, that only Lily noticed. But it was weird, you could almost say it was paternal. Lily thought this over as she and Ginny sat in the stands with Peter (ugh), Jennifer had decided to rough it out with the boys. There was more to this than met the eyes, and she was going to find out what it was.  
  
  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
So people, you've come this far so why not go that extra mile and review? Think about it, Harry and Ginny have travelled further! Although it's not as hard as a mile is it? All you have to do is click on the little button and exercise that privilege you have been given of freedom of speech! This does mean that flames are accepted but not really paid much attention to as it is our fan fic, but we would prefer that we get a shout out from all the lovely people out there (you know who you are, so why not flaunt it?).  
  
However, you have made us greedy! We have become review addicts and we need more to feed our habit, if you do not comply then we will be in a state of being unable to write the next chapter (well, at least post it! So it will be all lonely! Living a sheltered life in our computer never getting out and visiting yours! Could you live with that guilt?) Anyway, Death to Wormtail and all that! 


	6. Have you heard about that new fifth year...

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, we don't own it. Unfortunately! If I wish on a falling star could I get Lupin? No! You sure? OK, how about Sirius? Ron? Damn!  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (split personality S.Padfoot) proudly present this fic!  
  
Thanks to our wonderful reviewers (WE LOVE U GUYS), keep up the good work! Our review addiction is being fed but keep them coming, we need more and are so hungry for reviews. Thanks so much for giving this chapter a social life and inviting it to your computer, be proud of yourselves! So, here we are at chapter 6 so you don't want to hear our ramblings therefore on with the fic!  
  
To wish on a falling star  
  
Chapter 6- Did you hear about that new fifth year, Harry Potter?  
  
There was a big bang and a yelp from the fifth year boy's dormitory. This commotion woke up Bryan, who crawled to the bottom of his four poster bed and peered down. Harry was sprawled at the bottom, one shoe on and one off, groaning in pain and rubbing his head.  
  
"Wha' ya doin' down there?" He asked with a laugh and offered a helping hand. Harry pulled himself up and continued to groan.  
  
"Never rush around trying to put two shoes on at once!" Bryan laughed again, moving to jump on Tom's bed. The Scottish boy sat up quickly, muttering something about a win for Puddlemere united. Shaking his head, Harry sat on his own bed, rubbing his forehead.  
  
He didn't really want to admit it, but he was dead nervous. It was the first day of classes and Harry had no idea what to expect. It had been scary the first time, but then he had Ron. Ron, his best friend who was at his side throughout everything… but not now. 'Come on, pull yourself together!' he chided. He had faced Voldemort countless time and he was scared of a few classes. He knew the stuff and he knew he knew it, but what if it was all different?  
  
Harry felt slightly guilty as he remembered Ginny. This must be a lot harder on her. Somehow she had been pulled into this, pulled away from her family, and pushed a year ahead in her studies, being expected to do work she hadn't even covered yet! And with all this, she didn't even have the prospect of spending more time with her parents to look forward too. He would just have to take care of her, 'Although Sirius seemed to be doing a very good job!' he thought to himself with a smile. She seemed quite uncomfortable with the attention; maybe it was because she realised that it was coming from a man old enough to be her father, who was bound for 12 years in Azkaban!  
  
Harry would take care of Ginny, with some help from Jennifer and his mother, who seemed to have taken to the redhead nearly as fast as Sirius.  
  
Several minutes later, still rubbing his forehead, Harry followed Tom and Bryan down to the common room. Reaching the bottom of the staircase, he was quick to spot the big group, who were sprawled across several of the armchairs and the sofa. Harry made his way over to where Sirius was turning a sleeping Peter's hair hot pink, attracting the attention of a certain girl. Ginny looked up, her smile beginning to fade to be replaced with a look of concern.  
  
"Harry are you all right?" She frowned as he continued to hold his head. "Your scars not hurting is it? If it is you better see Dumbledore! You know what it means! Did you need to go to the Hospital wing? Oh Merlin, you'd better go to Dumbledore now!" She was ranting in a panic, receiving some very bemused smiles.  
  
"It's all right, Gin." Harry gave her a genuine smile over her concern, and she relaxed slightly. "I just tripped over and kinda hit my head, but I'm fine, really!" He reassured her. Seeming relieved, Ginny flopped back in her chair slightly embarrassed at her outburst. This got Harry thinking about his scar. Was his scar connected to the Voldemort of this time? In his first year Hagrid had told him Voldemort was gathering support about twenty years ago, so there must be a pretty powerful Voldemort in this time. But so far, he hadn't even had a twinge, well unless you count the killer headache- none Voldemort related of course.  
  
"What's the deal with this scar then?" Sirius leant forward to get a good look, breaking Harry out of his thoughts. "Blimey! It's shaped just like a lightening bolt!"  
  
Harry was feeling relatively uncomfortable with all this attention towards his scar. After all he couldn't just say; 'Have a good look at the scar from the Adava kerdavra cast by Voldemort. But it's all right, my parents died instead of me!' Sure that would go over well. Deciding to stick as close to the truth as he dared, Harry shrugged.  
  
"I've just had it since I was little. It hurts sometimes, but no big deal really." The others seemed to except this explanation, or at least the fact that he didn't want to talk about it. However, one pair of brown eyes shone with worry, one pair of green eyes with suspicion.  
  
Breakfast was pretty much the same for Ginny, well apart from the fact that people were actually paying attention to her. It was a strange concept really, travel back in time where your brothers aren't famous and finally get noticed. Ginny wasn't really sure whether to be glad or not. Hadn't she always wanted to be noticed? Known for something other than little sister of Fred and George (pranksters' extrordinaire) or little sister of Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's sidekick. Well, now it seems that everyone knew her name, all thanks to one future convict, Mr Sirius Black. On their way down the corridor, Sirius had thought it necessary to introduce her to everyone they passed. Well, actually he had made a sign float above hers and Harry's heads, proudly proclaiming  
  
'Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley! Gryffindor's and proud! Anyone want the job of showing us around (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)? Slytherin's need not apply!'  
  
Lily had glared at Sirius and told him to take it down. When that hadn't worked, Jennifer had 'persuaded' him to. Unfortunately, he spent the rest of the journey to the Great Hall complaining about how girls shouldn't be able to hit that hard.  
  
Ginny sat at the Gryffindor table, watching a particularly interesting fight between Sirius and Jennifer. Apparently, Sirius wanted her to get down on her knees and apologise for assaulting him. Ginny was fairly sure that most of the things she was telling him to do were physically impossible. However, her mind began to wander as the owl post came in. She was nervous, definitely nervous. What if she didn't know enough for the work? What if she failed? What if she was exposed as a fraud and forced down a year? Not only would she be alone, but how humiliating!  
  
"Ginny. Hello, earth to Ginny!" Ginny snapped awake to find Harry waving a hand in front of her face. With a small, nervous smile, Ginny collected her things. Saying goodbye to the others, she followed Harry out of the Great Hall.  
  
Many curious glances greeted Harry and Ginny as they followed the other Gryffindors into the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. They took two empty seats near to the front, with Catherine and Mary just in front of them, (Tom and Bryan had opted for seats in the back, where Tom could doodle Quidditch plays and Bryan could check out all the girls with complete ease). Harry noticed that Ginny was gripping the desk, muttering the name of every spell she could possibly remember. Leaning forward, he gently whispered in her ear, completely oblivious to Ginny's shiver.  
  
"It's OK. I'm sure you'll do fine. If you get stuck, remember, I'm here to help." This made Ginny loosen her grip. After all, who knew more about DADA than the 'boy-who-lived'?  
  
Just then a smiling wizard entered the classroom, he strongly reminded Harry of Gilderoy Lockhart. However, he seemed to have avoided his dress sense, Harry thought with relief.  
  
"Oh, I see we have two new students!" He crowed as he sat down on the edge of his desk. "All the way from Beauxbatons I hear! Well, Mr Potter and Miss Weasley, my name is Professor Bigglehart and welcome to my classroom. OK, last lesson we were discussing the spells to ward off dark creatures. Ward them off, mind you, not hurt them. Can anyone tell me any?" Before he even finished, Catherine raised her hand, reminding Harry very much of Hermione.  
  
"Ah yes, Miss Turner?"  
  
"The Patronus is a ward against Dementors, sir."  
  
"Well done, quite correct! Five points to Gryffindor! We were indeed discussing the Patronus!" This made Harry felt quite relieved, now this was something he knew about.  
  
"Now, this is a very complicated spell, many fully fledged wizards are unable to cast anything of great power." Professor Bigglehart continued, as the scratching of quills could be heard from Catherine's desk. Obviously taking notes she already had, very Hermione-ish.  
  
"Has anyone ever seen one performed?" Nobody raised their hands, until Harry and Ginny both hesitantly did. The Professor looked surprised but smiled as he asked whom.  
  
"Uh, Professor L-, a Professor at my old school."  
  
"How about you Miss Weasley?"  
  
"Well, the Professor also, but Harry Potter, sir." The whole class was astounded but the Professor looked slightly sceptical. Harry turned slightly red.  
  
"Are you sure? It is an incredibly difficult charm." Ginny didn't like the way he spoke to her like she was stupid.  
  
"Yes!" She stated defiantly, "A dementor, or so we thought, came to our Quidditch pitch once and Harry did it from his broom!" Harry couldn't have gone anymore red.  
  
"Well, Mr Potter. Would you care to give us a demonstration?" Harry watched the teacher's scepticism and Ginny's determination and found himself nodding. Stepping up in front of the class, he aimed his wand towards the back of the classroom and began to search for his happy thought.  
  
'Think getting excepted to Hogwarts…Quidditch…I've finally met my parents.' That seemed to do it as he closed his eyes and said 'Expecto Patronum'. A burst of silver light blasted from the end of the wand, causing the whole classroom to shriek.  
  
The light merged into a form, the stag and galloped around the classroom, stopping in front of Harry then returning to his wand. The class was stunned, however the shriek had brought a nearby Professor McGonagall to investigate.  
  
"What is going on?" She eyed the stunned class (well apart from a smiling Ginny) and teacher, then Harry standing at the front of the classroom.  
  
"I don't believe it! It-it was…" The Professor stuttered. "Mr Potter here has just conjured up the best patronus I have ever seen!" McGonagall's stern look turned to pride.  
  
"Well done, Mr Potter, 20 points to Gryffindor."  
  
As Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table next to Remus, he was aware of the looks and whispers directed his way.  
  
"What have you done? Everyone is talking about you?" Jennifer informed him from her seat in between Sirius and Peter. Before he could answer, a conversation down the table caught all of there attention.  
  
"Did you hear about that new fifth year, Harry Potter?" James' ears pricked up.  
  
"No, what'd he do?"  
  
"Well, in DADA Professor Bigglehart asked if anyone had ever seen a patronus and that new girl says yeah, Harry did it. He didn't believe her so he got Harry to show him. Apparently there was this huge explosion of light and this Patronus in the shape of a stag galloped around the room and then runs back into his wand! McGonagall came in and gave him 20 points. I reckon Bigglehart is jealous 'cause he can't even do it. I heard it was even better than Remus Lupin's!" Harry reddened slightly as several pairs of eyes stared in amazement at him. Fidgeting in her chair Ginny tried desperately to think of some way in which she could break the awkward silence and save poor Harry from the embarrassment, but she drew a blank.  
  
After a few seconds, a still slightly stunned, James took the attention away from Harry by turning Sirius bright orange. While a ranting Sirius kept the whole hall distracted with laughter James gave Harry a small smile, which Harry returned gratefully.  
  
When all the commotion had died down and Sirius had been returned to his natural colour, Lily leant over to Harry.  
  
"Harry, where did you learn to conjure up a patronus? I'm really impressed!" Harry tried to sound nonchalant.  
  
"My old DADA teacher. He was really great!" Harry snuck a quick glance at Remus but no one noticed.  
  
"So Ginny, how was your first morning?" Jennifer asked as the others all tucked into their lunch.  
  
"Um OK I guess." Ginny shrugged but the conversation ended there as their attention was suddenly drawn to Harry and James who sat side by side. They seemed to be moving in sync, they held a chicken leg in their left hands, took a bite, then picked up their goblet with their right hand. After a long swig they placed their goblets down, took another bite of the chicken leg, placed it on their plate and wiped their mouth with their sleeve.  
  
"Woah!" Sirius was nearly stunned into silence, nearly being the appropriate word.  
  
"What?" Harry and James both asked and then looked at each other.  
  
"Merlin! It's James Potter and James Potter Jr, either that or twins!" Sirius screeched, receiving several inquisitive looks. Ginny, who had lived with six brothers, knew how to stop him making a scene.  
  
"Oh my God Sirius, I think you're starting to grow a bold patch!" Ginny squinted and concentrated on Sirius' head. Sirius let out a small squeal and started to feel his head before Jennifer grabbed him by the ears and pulled him over so she could get a better look.  
  
"You know, I think Gin is right! Black you're going bold!" She chuckled and the others burst into to laughter, Sirius still feeling around his head.  
  
"Relax Padfoot. They're havin you on." Remus only informed his friend of this as he didn't think his eyes could get any wider.  
  
"Just must have been the light." Ginny stated calmly and took a sip of her pumpkin juice. With Sirius distracted Lily turned to talk to Harry.  
  
"Do you miss, your old school? Your friends?" Lily smiled thoughtfully. This question took Harry by surprise, he hadn't really thought about it before and he sat contemplating his answer.  
  
"Yeah, I suppose I do, especially my best friends Ron and Hermione. The school's pretty similar though." Harry then went back to his lunch, Lily watched him for a few seconds.  
  
"But at least you weren't alone, I mean you have Ginny and-" For some reason what Lily had said seemed to take Harry by surprise and he knocked his pumpkin juice everywhere.  
  
"S-sorry." Harry spluttered an apology before grabbing his napkin and struggled to clear the juice up.  
  
"It's OK, here let me help." Lily began to mop up the mess. "We'll have to get those robes clean, I just hope it doesn't stain." Lily then began to mop up Harry's robes.  
  
"God Lil, leave him alone, the boy can clean himself up. Who do you think you are his mother?" Sirius joked, the others laughed except for Harry, James, Ginny and surprisingly Lily.  
  
"I swear, that is the last time I ever listen to you Padfoot!" Remus' usual cheery smile was replaced with a scowl. Sirius just grinned innocently and shrugged with a 'hey, how was I to know?' gesture. Jennifer decided not to resist the urge to smack him over the head.  
  
"OW! God, you Moody's are all the same, a danger to society and completely nuts!" Sirius complained rubbing his head. It seemed as though he was checking for a bold patch while he was at it; this made Peter, Remus and James snicker.  
  
"Look, we'd better hurry up!" Lily hissed at the group straggling behind her. "I'm head girl, I cannot afford to get caught by Filch treading mud up the corridors!" Any comment Sirius looked like he was going to offer was not uttered, as Lily fixed him with her gaze.  
  
"And you! Don't you ever make us go and search the entire length of the Quidditch pitch for your wand, when it's in your pocket! I can't believe Dumbledore just put that anti-spell ward up! We were searching for an hour!" Sirius looked slightly sheepish, as Lily shook her head. Today had not been such a good day and the others could tell she had something on her mind. She had insisted nothing was wrong, so they left it until she wanted to talk. The thing is, something had been bothering her and she just couldn't put her finger on it. This weird feeling had come over her recently, a protectiveness that was slightly scary. Especially when Harry was around, which in fact was quite bizarre. But, he seemed so innocent and vunerable. He was so like James, the way he acted, the way he smiled, the way he looked- well, except his emerald green eyes. Emerald green eyes! Lily's mind began to rush. James' unexpected cousin, the likeness, the stag, the eyes! Realisation dawned on the head girl's face as they reached the portrait hole.  
  
"Holy crap!"  
  
"That's not the password, dear!" The fat lady looked slightly put out at Lily's reaction. Someone mumbled the password, but Lily couldn't tell who it was. Her mind was completely spinning.  
  
"Are you all right, Lil?" James put a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly a pair of burning emerald eyes met his.  
  
"I need a word with you Potter! Now!"  
  
  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
Review habit…need reviews…hurry…fast…please…loads of them…please! 


	7. I had a right to know!

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: We own the total sum of zero!  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (split personality S.Padfoot) proudly present this fic!  
  
To those wonderful people who have put us on their favourites lists.what can we say *sob* we are honoured and will try and make you proud *salutes*. To our reviewers.you guys are so bloody brilliant and we love you for it! To those of you who have not reviewed.why? Come on we never said you had to be nice (although much more preferred) as long as you can back up criticism!  
  
OK, am so sorry this chapter has taken so long but we just don't seem to have the time at the moment. No actually we do have a good excuse! AS Level exams and they are kinda important, also been working overtime which does quite frankly suck! Then ff. net was down and then we went on holiday! Anyway on with the fic!  
  
Chapter 7- I had a right to know!  
  
James cowered slightly under Lily's intimidating burning gaze and nodded.  
  
"OK, we can use the boys dormitory." James said taking Lily by the hand and noticed her tense under his touch. None of the other boys argued, Lily was way too scary when mad and they certainly did not want to get caught in the crossfire. Entering the common room, the group split into two. Dropping down on an armchair Sirius began to hum the funeral march as Lily and James disappeared round the corner at the top of the stairs. He was soon silenced by a smack up side the head by Jennifer. The four friends were silent, each lost in thought, each trying to come to their own conclusions on what exactly was going on in the seventh year boys dormitory. Harry and Ginny entered the common room on their way back from the library to see four grim and thoughtful faces. A sudden panic came over Harry as he quickly made his way over to them, dropping his books and parchment down on a table. Ginny followed looking worried.  
  
"What's going on? Is everything all right?" The desperation in Harry's voice seemed to shock the four seventh years, who all stared curiously back at him. Finally Remus spoke up.  
  
"Yeah, it's nothing to worry about really." He gave a reassuring smile.  
  
"Yeah, I mean all couples fight and they're no exception to the rule." Jennifer too tried to reassure Harry.  
  
"That was really strange though; Lily was real mad and I don't even think James knew what he'd done." Peter squeaked up.  
  
"No," Sirius cut in, in a thoughtful tone. "I think he did." However Sirius refused to elaborate.  
  
"Lily and James are fighting? What happened?" Harry tried to ask casually as he sat next to Remus.  
  
"Dunno, quite confusing really." Jennifer began.  
  
James opened the door to the boys dormitory and held it open for Lily. She entered and sat down on James' bed. James followed, closing the door behind him and sitting next to Lily. She stared intently at him for a few minutes he just stared back.  
  
"Harry's not your cousin, is he?" This seemed more of a statement than a question causing James to break eye contact. James shook his head not daring to look Lily in the eye; he was so ashamed that he had lied to her. Taking a deep breath Lily continued.  
  
"He's your son, isn't he?" This was again more of a statement, this time he looked at her and nodded. Lily took a sharp intake of air as if trying to prepare and motivate herself for the next thing she about to say.  
  
"He's our son, isn't he?" As she said this Lily's voice faltered and cracked slightly. Looking her straight in the eye this time James nodded again. A tear slipped down Lily's cheek and James went to wipe it away but she pulled back.  
  
"You lied to me! You lied to me James Potter! One thing you swore you would never do!" Lily jumped up from the bed in anger and James felt as if the wind had just been knocked out of him.  
  
"Lil, I'm sorry, I couldn't tell anyone." James said quietly as though he was finding it hard to speak.  
  
"You couldn't tell anyone? I'm not anyone James! I had a right to know!" Lily was now yelling and had begun to shake.  
  
"I know I was wrong, I'm.I'm sorry." James said defeatedly.  
  
"I had a right to know!" Lily's was trembling and her voice cracked again. Completely breaking down into tears she fell into James' arms. Sinking down to the floor James held Lily in a tight embrace, rocking her back and forth and stroking her hair.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Lil, I'm so sorry."  
  
"I wonder what's going on up there?" Peter thought out loud.  
  
"Probably in the make up stage, if you know what I mean?" Sirius joked, again receiving a smack up side the head from Jennifer. "Hey psycho! Violence is not the answer."  
  
"Yeah, but it sure makes me feel a whole lot better!" Jennifer gave a grin, before it was replaced by a frown as she stared back at the staircase. The group sat in silence for a while.  
  
"I haven't seen Lily this mad since Snape propositioned her, James must have done something bad. Lily has never been this mad at James, ever!" Jennifer spoke up, although it was more to herself.  
  
"Do you think he cheated on her and now they're going to break up?" Peter asked interestedly from his chair. Although in a distracted mood, it took every ounce of self control for Harry not to jump the sofa and punch Peter's lights out. Sirius scoffed at the very idea of James cheating on Lily, and Jennifer smacked Peter (A/N: go Jennifer, hit that worm! Have you noticed her violent tendencies?)  
  
"Don't be such an idiot, Wormtail! Prongs would never cheat on Lily. And when do you suppose he did it? We've been with him all the time he's not with Lily." Remus stated calmly, he shook his head at Peter.  
  
"Well, he has been acting strange lately. You know ever since he had that late Quidditch practice." Peter tried to defend himself; really he hadn't noticed, but had heard Sirius' passing comment to Remus that James was strangely quiet. Harry tried to act innocent, as if this had nothing to do with him.  
  
"What do you expect! A cousin he doesn't talk about turns up out of the blue! You know James isn't really one for change. No offence, Harry." Sirius added, with a small smile for the youngest Potter.  
  
"Will you guys stop fighting!" Jennifer glared at the squabbling boys. "We should be wondering if everything is all right. I hope Lily is OK." She flopped back into the red armchair.  
  
"Well, if you're so worried, why don't you go and see?" Remus suggested in a reassuring voice.  
  
"I can't! It's the boys dormitory! What if McGonagall catches me, I can't afford another detention!" Although curious, she didn't know if she wanted to walk into the crossfire. "One of you boys will have to go!"  
  
"Us?" Sirius straightened in his chair and nervously glanced at Remus and Peter. All had felt the wrath of Lily and were definitely not in a hurry to renew the hostility.  
  
"We .er .um, we can't! We can't send Peter that's just like sending the lamb to the slaughter (A/N: what a shame). Remus is .um . vulnerable and well, me- come on, I'm too valuable to the female population." With a quick glance around, his eyes landed on the other male in the circle. "I vote we send Harry!"  
  
"Me?" Harry suddenly snapped up. If everyone else was too scared to go up, he wasn't exactly going to volunteer.  
  
"Yeah! You're young, you have your whole life ahead of you, and chances are they'll take pity on you and not kill you! Plus you're family, James will protect you and Lily can't kill future family, can she!" Sirius seemed to think that this plan was genius. Harry decided he would do it, but only because he desperately wanted to see if they were all right. Plus, Sirius was right about the family thing. He just hoped that James would help him if Lily started to throw things. With this thought, he swallowed hard and began to climb the stairs. Harry hesitated at the door. Why on earth had he agreed to this? What if they got mad at him? He had once heard from Dean Thomas that his parents would get even angrier if they were interrupted. Dean had gone on to talk about flying book and other objects, and Dean's parents were muggles! What if he got hexed? Sirius seemed very adamant not go up to the dorm, he seemed to think he would end up in the hospital wing. This made Harry worry slightly, since Sirius had earlier been proclaiming how much he loved the hospital wing; after all he didn't need to go to any lessons. Lily must be very, very scary! Harry tried to decide what was worse, dodging curses or being yelled at by your parents for the first time, the people who are suppose to love you more than anything else in the world. Taking a deep breath, his hand closed over the door handle, while the other lifted to knock. Hearing a muffled 'come in' after a few moments made Harry turn the handle and open the door. Stepping in slowly, he looked around. Everything was pretty much like his dorm, well except his wasn't covered in as much mess and was lacking the vast amount of prank material. Sitting on one of the four poster bed was a sombre looking James (who had been rocking Lily in his arms for about ten minutes, before her sobs had subsided), Harry could tell that Lily had been crying, due to her red, puffy eyes. She appeared to have calmed down, that was until she caught sight of Harry. Her whole body went rigid and her eyes went wide. This slightly scared Harry and he vaguely wondered if he should be backing up at this moment. Yes, with luck he could probably reach the door before Lily could pick up her wand or any random object to hurl at him. Unfortunately he couldn't move and desperately pleading silently to his feet was not working. Harry quickly glanced at James, whose eyes just kept flicking between his girlfriend and his son. So basically he had no clue what to do, especially when Lily untangled herself from James' arms.  
  
"I.uh.just came to see.well I-I wanted to know.erm.is.is ev-everything all right? Are you.you know." Trailing off, Harry decided that his defence was decidedly lame, but he was trying. OK, maybe this was a bad idea. Now he thought about it was damn stupid! You don't just interrupt a fighting couple, especially if one of them is a red head (now he knew that his temper and the whole exploding Aunt Marge thing came from his mother)! As he tried to rack his brain for something to say, Lily rose off the bed and started to move towards Harry. Stopping just in front of him, she gazed at his face, eyes full of wonderment. Two pairs of identical emerald eyes fixed on each other, one clouding with confusion, the other with tears. Then with a sob, Lily threw her arms around her son and hugged him tightly, her tears spilling more violently. Harry was shocked, to say the least, but one look at James' face told him all he needed to know. She knew! Letting out a breath he hadn't even realised he was holding, Harry eagerly hugged his mother back for the first time he could remember. Feeling another pair of arms slide around them, the tears inevitably fell, but Harry didn't care, this was the best moment of his whole life. The three of them stood there together in silence. They stood there as a family.  
  
"Will you, for Merlin's sake, stop that!" Jennifer hissed through gritted teeth. Remus glanced down at his shaking leg and then back to the dormitory staircase.  
  
"You don't think sending him up there was a.well.bad idea?" The others stared at each other, not knowing what to say.  
  
"Yeah! A galleon says that she's killed them both and is now trying to hide the bodies."  
  
"You really are a sick man, Black!" Jennifer took great pleasure in her favourite pass-time of smacking Sirius. The she sat back in her comfy armchair and scowled at him.  
  
"She would-dn't really-y d-do that, w-would she?" Peter piped up, pathetically. This time Jennifer's scowl was directed at him, he meekly shrunk in his chair and stared at his chubby hands. Ginny spoke up for the first time since entering the common room.  
  
"No, I think you did the best thing sending him up there." She began to flush like the ends of Ron's ears when they all turned to look at her. "Well," she hurriedly continued. "He is, as you said, family. And.um.well I know Harry." She did however neglect to mention that this had been purely from her observation. "Look," she continued. "Harry has this amazing ability to make everything seem better. He is the one that stays calm under pressure and always seems to have the answers to sort it out. I respect him so much for the many hardships he has tackled and well, I have total trust in him." Ginny suddenly realised what she had said and trailed of in complete embarrassment; she was now burning like a scarlet Gryffindor flag. The other four just stared in amazement at her speech.  
  
"Whoah, he sure is lucky!" Remus started, sensing Ginny's uncomfortable situation. "I mean to have someone like you in his life, who sees so much good in him." Ginny blushed harder.  
  
"Alas! If only I went for younger men!" Jennifer exclaimed, which got a small chuckle out of everyone. Well all except Sirius, who pouted.  
  
"Aw shucks! I'm two months younger than you!"  
  
"What a shame!" Jennifer clicked her fingers in mock disappointment. "Well, Remus is still in with a chance." With that she winked in his direction. Surprisingly enough his cheeks turned an interesting shade of red. This could have meant endless teasing had Sirius actually noticed. Instead he had leant towards Ginny in a very occasional serious moment.  
  
"You really think that Harry can sort it out? 'Cause really I've never seen Lily like that and well Lily and James, they sorta give a bit of hope to the rest of us, you know. I mean if they.well it would just be like unbalancing the world or something." Ginny nearly had tears in her eyes from his proclamation, but she managed a small smile.  
  
"Don't worry, there is a bond between those two that even death couldn't break."  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
You're getting veeerry sleepy, veeerry sleepy *starts swinging a pocket watch in front of you* Now when I click my fingers you will click on the review button and write a wonderful review.*clicks fingers* 


	8. Filth, lunatics, beasts and mudbloods

We solemnly swear our writing's no good!  
  
Disclaimer: If we owned Harry Potter, we wouldn't have to work at the shit hole we do! We wouldn't have to go to college because we would have £46 million sitting in the bank, going 'spend me, spend me'. Ron would so get more credit than he does (go Ron)! There would be no more Harry/Hermione ships, as we would refuse to write another word until those sinners had converted their evil ways. Oliver Wood would be forever in just a towel and Remus would be handcuffed to my bed ( (C.Moony just couldn't resist, sorry).  
  
A/N: C.Moony and S.Prongs (split personality S.Padfoot) proudly present this fic! Words cannot express how sorry we are for the long wait. Half of it has just been sat all lonely on the computer, with no one to read it (! We know it's our fault, we are very bad people, and we should be 'casted out and made to live as muggles!' If JK can get her act together, so can we! Thanks as ever to our wonderful reviewers. Wahoo over 200 reviews! You guys are brilliant and we love those of you who have demanded that we update. It makes us feel so special. For those of you who wanted to know where Snape was, don't panic, we haven't forgotten him. He'll be here shortly and will be just as vindictive as ever. And a special note to Alexandria. Thank you so much for your review. Of course you can be in our story. Just keep reading as we have plans for you.  
  
***  
  
Chapter 8- Filth, lunatics, beasts and mudbloods  
  
It was quite late when Lily and James descended the stairs, hand in hand with Harry close behind them. Entering the common room they noticed that it was virtually empty, except for some sixth years desperately trying to get an impossible transfiguration essay finished. At first glance he missed her sitting there by the fire, but suddenly his eye caught that familiar red hair. With a small smile Harry passed his parents and headed in her direction. Ginny had been waiting for what seemed like hours. The others had decided on a trip to the kitchens, obviously getting bored of waiting. Ginny hadn't wanted to go with them for two reasons; she was sure they were going to get caught (after all she didn't know about the Marauder's map) and secondly she was worried about Harry. This would be the first fight he had ever witnessed between his parents and she was sure it was because of him and who he was. What if Lily and James broke up? They would never get married, have Harry and Voldemort may never have met his downfall. The whole of the wizarding world (and if Ginny was honest with herself more importantly Harry's existence) was at stake, it all depended on the outcome of this argument. Waiting nervously had eventually taken its toll on the young girl and she had drifted into a light slumber.  
  
Harry's emerald eyes scanned the figure curled up in the big armchair, as she leant her head on her hand, hair falling across her cheek. And for one confusing moment Harry could have sworn he felt his heart flutter. No, he was just tired and relieved, that was all. As he stood watching her, Ginny began to stir, opening one eye then the other. Sitting up immediately, she blinked.  
  
"Harry?" Suddenly everything came out in a huge rush. "Are you all right? Is everything OK? I was so worried because of what could have happened and it would be because of us and I'm so." Realising what she was saying and that she had an audience, Ginny stopped abruptly in embarrassment. Harry gave her a reassuring smile.  
  
"Everything's fine, Gin." Ginny slowly looked from Harry to Lily, then to James and back to Harry again. Noticing Lily and James' clasped hands and Lily's small smile in Harry's direction, she knew that their secret was out. As if he could read her mind, Harry quickly glanced around the room before he whispered his next sentence.  
  
"It's all right, my mum knows." It was hard to tell whose smile was the widest as Harry said the word 'mum'. Lily's eyes twinkled and it seemed as though she was very close to tears. Her emerald eyes shone as she glanced at Harry with a mixture of awe and pride. It was something to be told how much your parents loved you, but it was sure a hundred times better to see it for yourself. Here they were, seventeen years old and faced with a bombshell of being presented with their son from the future. Harry felt an odd lump in his throat at the thought they could still care this much for him, and had an odd sense that he may just burst into tears.  
  
"Oh thank god! You're alive!" Sirius bounded into the common room, arms filled with pastries. On seeing the scene in front of him, he had dropped them on the floor (much to the dismay of Peter) and had trampled half of them into the carpet as he launched himself at Harry. Throwing his arms around the boy he began to sob and groan in dramatic wails.  
  
"I felt so guilty for allowing mental Moody to bully you into such a dangerous mission." At this Jennifer gave an indignant cry and threw a chocolate frog at Sirius head. It missed and made a squelching noise as it hit the wall and slid down, leaving a brown, chocolate trail. Harry looked quite alarmed at the teenager draped around his neck.  
  
"He's alive, ALIVE!" With that final word, he released the confused boy and threw himself onto the nearest couch. Then in a completely nonchalant manner, asked what he had missed.  
  
"Nothing much." James gave his best friend a smile. "Nothing much."  
  
***  
  
The dim moonlight shone through the open window and a warm breeze circulated throughout the 7th year boys' dormitory. A figure sat hunched against the window frame, one leg dangling outside into the peaceful night and the other resting on the window ledge. He hadn't been able to sleep and had been sat there for what seemed like hours. A loud snort from Peter had broken his train of thought, stifling a laugh he looked around the dormitory at his sleeping dorm mates.  
  
He liked watching others sleep, they just looked so peaceful and of course some of their strange sleeping habits could be quite amusing as well as useful blackmail material. You could tell a lot about a person when they were sleeping, they were at a point where they were the most vulnerable unable to control themselves or their emotions. He had noted over the years Peter's tendency to snort, suck his thumb and mumble about Madame Pomfrey (he guessed it was probably that whole Florence Nightingale syndrome as Peter did find himself in the hospital wing a lot). Remus was quite a peaceful sleeper except for he would occasionally growl or hum an entire song before he fell silent for the rest of the night. Then there was James, always restless, tossing and turning all night. He would often start shaking, breakout into a cold sweat and even sometimes grimace in pain but he never made a sound. Sirius had been so freaked out the first time this had happened thinking James was having a seizure, but James had woken up complaining at Sirius for making too much noise and waking him up.  
  
He knew then that James was not an ordinary wizard, he must have seen things others couldn't even imagine, and it was as if he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. But James appeared like a rock, a pillar of strength for those around him, James was a champion. Sirius was always in awe of his best friend but worried that James seemed adamant to go through whatever this was alone. Sirius was determined to ruin that plan and he had made a promise to himself many years ago that whatever happened he would be by James' side, he would be there to fight till the end.  
  
Shifting slightly in the window frame so he could see the distant Quidditch pitch, Sirius got back on his previous train of thought and the reason he was still awake at three in the morning. Sirius was more observant than everyone knew, more observant than he let on and he knew something was going on. He had nothing against Harry or Ginny in fact quite the opposite but he knew their whole situation was not quite right. Sirius had known the Potter's for years and the sudden appearance of James' long lost cousin just didn't seem to quite add up, not to mention the remarkable resemblance which cousins did not usually have. He knew the Weasleys quite well too and had never heard the mention of a Virginia or any of their family being in France. Then Harry's patronus happened to be a stag, which was more than a little weird, and now that fight between Lily and James. That was perhaps what was getting to him more than anything, Lily and James hardly ever fought and that was no ordinary lovers tiff. Lily's spontaneous outburst had not seemed so unexpected to James; he seemed to know exactly what he had done. Then when they had sent Harry up to the dormitory he had been up their ages and the three had come down like nothing had happened. But there was also what Ginny had said "Don't worry, there is a bond between those two that even death couldn't break." That statement kind of scared him and he didn't know why but what he did know was that he wasn't going to rest until he found out what the hell was going on.  
  
***  
  
Despite the fact that the sun had only just risen in the skyline behind Hogwarts, Harry and Ginny had occupied the table in the far-left corner of the common room for the past hour. Books and parchment littered the table as well as several pinecones with legs.  
  
"Argh! I am never going to get this stupid spell!" Ginny threw her wand down on the table in frustration sending a dancing pinecone toppling over the edge.  
  
"It's OK Gin, you're doing great, you're getting closer each time." Harry offered the frustrated Weasley a reassuring smile.  
  
"Liar," Ginny returned Harry's smile with one of her own.  
  
"No seriously. I mean the pinecone even moved that time." Harry's cheeky grin earned him a small slap from Ginny but she couldn't help a small laugh.  
  
"It's not funny!" She tried really hard to scold him, but it was impossible to be mad at Harry and her grin shone through once more. It was the times like this that Ginny prized the most, even if it did mean embarrassing herself with her lack of Transfiguration skills. Although of course, humiliating 'wish-the-ground-would-open-up-and-swallow-you' displays in front of Harry Potter seemed to be Ginny's specialty. One thing about being sent through time and space with someone is that you can't really help but bond. Ginny had really enjoyed that side of the time travel and the fact that she could now look Harry in the eye and manage to keep most of her dinner on her plate and not on her robes. She didn't know when it had happened, but somewhere along the line she was sure that the two had become friends. Maybe it had all stemmed from Harry's incessant need to be the protector to anyone and everyone, especially if he was best friends with their already overbearing older brother. Or maybe it was the just the fact that the two had spent a large amount of time together and Harry had gotten to know the real Ginny. Since the two had landed smack-bang in the middle of the seventies (and yes, there were some pretty amusing fro's) literally all their time had been spent together. They went to breakfast together, had all the same lessons and in the time they weren't hanging out with a group of rather rowdy seventh years, the two could be seen in the far corner of the library working on every subject that the wizarding curriculum offered.  
  
It wasn't just Ginny who enjoyed their time together. Harry missed Ron and Hermione but he was getting a chance to get to know his parents. Ginny, however, had made this transition that much easier. She was a link, a link to his past, to Ron, to Hermione, to his life at Hogwarts. Whenever one of them felt particularly home sick the other would tell an anecdote, in Ginny's case of her brothers and her childhood, while Harry usually stuck to telling her of his adventures since he had meet Ron. The listener would usually smile and laugh and the thought of being home sick might be pushed aside for a little while, because the company just made them feel lucky to be there. If Harry had know what an amazing, funny, lively girl hid behind the façade of shy Ginny Weasley, he would have forced her out of her shell a long time ago. Not only that but she was wicked smart, bordering on Hermione smart. She could speak fluent French and Spanish from a summer when her father had come home with a cassette player and several language cassettes, along with a Tom Jones album and a compilation of disco tracks. She seemed to excel at Charms, could stay awake in History of Magic and even seemed to brew potions with the precision of a Malfoy. Harry assumed that not even this talent would get a Weasley into Snape's good graces. But for all Ginny's glittering academics she really did bite the big one at Transfiguration. She had no idea why she found it so hard; maybe it was the fact that in her first lesson Colin Creevey had miss-aimed his spell and had caused his match to spark and set fire to the end of Ginny's hair. Or maybe it was the fact that during one of her more eventful Transfiguration lessons, Ginny had accidentally turned her own robes semi-transparent. It was something that Ginny didn't like to remember and was perhaps always in the back of her mind every time she attempted anything in that class.  
  
"OK. Let's try this again?" Ginny nodded determinedly at Harry's question and concentrated on the pinecone lying on the table in front of her. 'Pinecone to mouse, pinecone to mouse, pinecone to. pinecone with a tail? Arghhh!' With a frustrated sigh, Ginny banged her head on the table. Harry was trying desperately to think of something comforting or encouraging to say, when he noticed her shoulders began to shake. Thinking she was crying, and as a typical male Harry, began to panic. That was until he heard the unmistakable sound of laughter. Ginny had no idea what had possessed her but suddenly she felt the great urge to laugh. Lifting her head off the table she grinned at a visibly relieved Harry.  
  
"I think it's safe to say I won't be taking over for Professor McGonagall. Am I hopeless at this or what?" Ginny who had her back towards the dormitory staircase did not see the figure descend the stairs. Harry did.  
  
"I think it's about time we brought out the big guns." He gave a cheeky grin at Ginny's confused expression and called across the common room. "Da...amn James, we could really use some help here." Cringing at the near slip up, Harry moved up as James headed in their direction. Luckily the room was still relatively empty apart from a group of sixth years who were minding their own business anyway. The Head boy seemed to be without the troubles that had been surrounding him for a while, and smiled joyfully at the two fifth years.  
  
"How may I be of service?" He plonked down on the footstool and gazed at the table littered with papers and pinecones. Without Harry and Ginny even needing to say a word, James nodded knowledgeably.  
  
"Ah, the old pinecone to mouse transfiguration. McGonagall is giving this to you already? I didn't do it 'till sixth year." Harry then proceeded to tell him how much trouble Ginny seemed to be having. Her feeling of foolishness at such a failure was helped as James explained the difficulty with the spell due to the weak link between the two and the fact that Peter, as a seventh year, still couldn't do it. It took another half an hour before Ginny could create anything that resembled a rodent.  
  
"OK, one more time." Ginny muttered to herself before raising her wand. Saying the spell and flicking her wand, Ginny crossed her fingers on her free hand. There was a small bang and a puff of yellow smoke. As it began to clear, Ginny noted with tremendous delight, that scurrying on the tabletop was a small, slightly ragged but never the less a brown mouse. James gave a small whoop of triumph as Ginny gave a squeal of excitement.  
  
"I did it! I did it!" Dancing around she gave James a quick excited hug, before hugging Harry. "I did it, did you see Harry? Look I finally did it!" Only once her enthusiasm for the small mouse wore off did she notice that she was still in Harry's arms and moved away with acute embarrassment. Harry, for his part, had not actually minded Ginny being in his arms and couldn't help but feel a slight disappointment as she moved away. 'That's ridiculous! Ginny's just a friend!' Harry frowned at his own trail of thought. 'It was just a friendly hug. And why am I even talking about it to myself?' Harry didn't have much time to dwell over this as a loud ruckus was heard on the stairs. It was pretty obvious who it was.  
  
"Don't worry Moony old boy, I'll only tell the whole world!" Sirius' last few words, however, were slightly muffled as he reached the last few stairs and made a leap for freedom. Unfortunately, he had not yet learnt the technique and he slipped on the rug, ending up face first in the carpet. Remus was the next person to appear and promptly sat on Sirius in order to stop him from getting up. The common room (which had started to fill) watched in amazement. James, Harry and Ginny stared in amusement but were quite confused as no-one had ever really seen Remus this mad. Sirius' pleas for help were muffled due to his mouth full of carpet.  
  
"What one earth is going on here?" Lily and Jennifer had just walked into the state of pandemonium and Lily had her stern 'pissed head girl' look about her. Jennifer meanwhile bent down and studied the scene before her.  
  
"Can he breathe down there?" She asked Remus whilst cocking her head towards Sirius. In answer to the question Sirius make an 'OK' sign with his hand, signalising that he was not out of air yet. "What a pity! Hey Remus, next time sit on his head." With this parting comment, she flashed Remus a grin and headed over to the sofa, where she proceeded to act as if this scene was nothing out of the ordinary.  
  
"Remus, why are you sitting on Sirius? What idiotic thing has he done this time?" James question earned an indignant muffled cry from Sirius, which was of course ignored. Remus only just seemed to realize the scene he was making, but at this moment he was to angry, desperate and mortified to care as much as he normally would.  
  
"This idiot," this was accentuated with a poke to Sirius' back, "thinks it's funny to mess with someone's feelings and private thoughts!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Padfoot cast a spell on Remus that made him spill whatever he was thinking and his deepest secrets." Peter waddled down the stairs (A/N: Pity he didn't fall and break his neck) and nonchalantly sat on the sofa next to Jennifer, who (quite rightly) rolled her eyes in disgust. "Then he came running down here to tell everyone. Looks like Remus caught up to him."  
  
"That was low, Sirius!" Lily scolded to Sirius who just held a cupped hand to his ear like he couldn't hear very well. "If Remus promises to let you up, will you promise not to tell anyone what you heard?" There was a pause. "Sirius!"  
  
"I promise." He managed to gasp out as he raised his head. "I was just testing out the new spell to use on our Slytherin friend. I wouldn't have told anyone anyway." Mumbling, Sirius stood up and dusted off his robes.  
  
"Yeah, don't worry Moony. I won't tell anyone who you've got a crush on either." Peter dumbly beamed as if this made him the best friend in the world. As soon as the sentence left his mouth, Remus went from white to red.  
  
"I'm going to breakfast!" He growled and then stormed out of the common room, leaving behind some very confused and curious people.  
  
"So who's he got a crush on?" Lily smacked James upside the head. Breakfast was quite the somber affair to begin with. Remus was not talking to anyone, Sirius was trying to apologize but seemed to be doing a really bad job of it. Lily was scolding Peter and James for prying into Remus' secrets and everyone else were just spectators. This mood was changed, however, with an unusual announcement from Dumbledore. When the Headmaster stood the Hall quieted down almost immediately, as everyone was curious as to what an announcement on a somewhat normal day would mean. Not only that but he was a man who the students had an enormous amount of respect for (well all but some Deatheater-wannabe's in Slytherin). The old man cleared his throat and smiled fondly over the Hall at the students he loved so much.  
  
"Before you all finish and rush eagerly to class," there were a few snickers at this, "I'm afraid that you'll have to put up the waffling of an old man. The Professors have informed me of all the hard work you all seem to be putting in this year; yes well done. And due to the recent events," Harry assumed that due to Dumbledore's expression it must have had something to do with Voldemort, "we have decided to treat you all with a Christmas ball." This news was accompanied with the incessant chattering that normally followed such an announcement. Dumbledore clapped his hands together in order to gain the attention of the hall once more. "I know you're all excited of course, but I feel I must remind you all what a privilege this is. Due to. eh. interesting results, there has not been a ball at Hogwarts since 1473 and I can assure you I expect the best behavior from all of you towards each other." Dumbledore's warm smile turned serious as he hastily glanced between two of the house tables. "Since there is a large number of you staying at Hogwarts over Christmas break," he again paused in some type of reflection, "we will have this jolly event on December 24th. Partners are not compulsory and dress robes will be worn. Therefore there will be an extra Hogsmede trip next month. Anyway, I see I have wasted enough of your precious time." With a final smile at the students, the Headmaster sat down and allowed the Hall to take up it former trail of conversation. There could be heard many "What am I going to wear?", "Do you think he'll ask me?" and even the occasional moan and curses that they were going home and would miss the ball or groaning at the fact they were staying and would have to attend.  
  
"Did you two know about this?" Remus asked Lily and James, who both shook their heads just as much surprised at the rest of the student body.  
  
"Wahoo! Perfect opportunity to make a move on the fine-ass specimens that the female race have to offer!" Sirius was eagerly scanning the Hall and making a mental list of ball date possibilities, totally unaware that many girls were staring at him willing his eyes to land on them.  
  
"Well, I think the whole thing sucks! All you are going to have is girls flicking their hair and gossiping, trying to get a guy's attention more than they usually do. Which probably won't work anyway and then you have to go around hearing about everyone's date, when you yourself have none, because despite what Dumbledore says dates are compulsory if you don't want to be a wall flower for the entire duration!" Jennifer appeared to have finished her rant and Harry had to silently agree with her. The last ball he went to was bad enough, thank you very much. Sirius stopped his scouting of the local 'talent' and his mutterings of "possibility. nope. maybe." to look at Jennifer with a smirk.  
  
"Oh come on, Moody. You're just upset that most guys don't put psychotic, unhinged, gobby, aggressive girls at the top of their 'who to invite list'." Jennifer glared at Sirius and was about to defend herself, but someone else got there first.  
  
"Come on, Padfoot. She's not psychotic, just because she doesn't take any of your crap. And plus some guys like a strong, independent woman who is not afraid to give her own opinion. You're just upset because she can beat you up." Jennifer wasn't the only one starring at Remus in surprise of his defending her. Lily's surprise soon changed into a knowing smile and watched as Remus turned about four different shades of red. Sirius was about to open his mouth, possibly to say something that could cause Remus to turn another different shade, when he suddenly stopped. Harry was quite alarmed at the evil smirk and wondered who Sirius was looking at. Before he had a chance to turn around he heard a familiar voice.  
  
"Oh look its Potty and his famous tag-alongs!" That tone of such unbridled disdain could only belong to one man. Harry spun around and his eyes landed on seventeen year old Severus Snape, looking as vindictive as ever. His appearance surprised Harry as he had completely forgotten that Snape was at Hogwarts at this time, his memory was not helped by the fact that this was the first time he had set eyes on him since their journey to the past. The Snape in this time, though much younger, was still recognizable from the greasy hair (although it was shorter), to hooked nose and the sour expression that seemed to be reserved especially for a Potter.  
  
"Severus, how nice to see you. It's been awhile and back to your normal colour I see." Sirius' light and cheery response may have been believable if it was not for the fact that he was clutching his butter knife so tight his fingers were turning white. This comment managed to make Snape's expression turn even more sour if possible.  
  
"You all think you're so perfect and that you have some right to rule the school. I'll get you back for that little prank, Potter." He spat out the 'Potter' as if it was a curse and the icy glare bestowed on James looked as though he was to blame for all the troubles of the world. Severus Snape would be damned if he let that bunch of cretin's get away with causing him to flash the colours of Gryffindor! It was so humiliating for a Slytherin to be so degraded, especially when the teachers couldn't reverse it. That old fool Dumbledore telling him he had to let it run its course until the colour faded! Faded! That could have been months. And to think they wanted him to still carry on as usual; there was no way! It was all Potter's fault he had spent the last two weeks locked up in dormitory, having to copy the abysmal notes of that prat Avery and eating whatever crap his house mates would bring back for him. Then he had heard that not only did he have to deal with the Marauder's, the bane of his existence, but that there was another Potter transferred from Beauxbatons, who happened to be the spitting image of 'Mr bloody perfect'. If Snape hadn't had such a detest for all Potter's he may have felt sorry for the kid.  
  
"Be careful Black, you're showing your true colours again." Severus spat at Sirius as he noticed him still clutching hard to his knife. Sirius' eyes darkened as Snape mouthed 'murderer' and was only just stopped from diving over the table by Peter grabbing his robes (A/N: the only honorable thing the worm will probably ever do). Deciding to ignore the fact that Sirius was grinding his teeth so loud and the only reason he was still alive was that Remus had now joined Peter in restraining Sirius, Snape turned his attention back to his favourite target.  
  
"Why is it that filth always procreates at an annoyingly fast speed?" His glare moved from James to Harry, who glared back with so much hatred for what he had said to Sirius. "Well, you obvious followed your cousin in ghastly looks, suppose you got his manners and arrogance too. Maybe your parents should have drowned you at birth." This was the final straw for James, shaking with anger he stood until he was eye to eye with Snape.  
  
"I'm warning you Snake. You say one more thing about my family and yours will be scraping you off the ceiling and taking you home in a matchbox!" A blazing James Potter was quite an intimidating sight, but Snape was not backing down, there was no way he would let James win. Sensing this Lily and Jennifer automatically tried to pull James back down.  
  
"James, leave it. He's not worth it." Lily whispered through gritted teeth.  
  
"Yeah, Potter. Why don't you listen to your girlfriend before you get hurt." Snape gave him one last disdainful look before turning his attention elsewhere. "What are you looking at beast?" He noticed Remus' hateful look and the fact that Sirius began to struggle once again under his restraint. Ignoring this his focus moved to Ginny. As soon as his eyes landed on her she felt her body go cold. With a smirk he leant over her.  
  
"Well, well you're a pretty little thing." Harry began to tense in the seat next to her. "I'll give you some advice. You better dump this lot before it's too late. Who knows where hanging around filth, lunatics, beast and mudbloods will get you." This last sentence was like a breaking point and it was unclear who moved first. The next thing anyone knew was that James, Sirius, Remus, Harry, Snape and a couple of his cronies were in the middle of a brawl. The Hall was filled with screaming and shouting and so much confusion. Ginny and Lily were watching on in shock, not noticing as Peter hid under the table. Jennifer, meanwhile, was yelling a long list of profanities and trying to pull her friends away. Of course every now and then she would get a good kick in at Snape, but it was such pandemonium no one really knew who they were attacking. Suddenly a resounding boom filled the entire Hall.  
  
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Everyone stopped still to see Dumbledore wand raised, eyes filled with fire. "My office, NOW!"  
  
***  
  
Fan fic managed!  
  
A/N: If you review (you know, it's the sign of a very intelligent person) then we will not be forced to be nice to Peter. Reviews mean he is being tortured by interesting and various methods. Hey, even though flames are quite stupid (unless sent to a H/Hr shipper for their awful, obscene and offensive choice of ship) because you know the whole 'fan-fiction' part, we will accept them and toast the worm. But come on, where is the fun in just burning when it's only one of the basic torture methods.  
  
PS. We have a completely random question for you. Do you think it's better to be on a favourite author's list or favourite stories list? Because we seem to make more favourite author lists than story. Wouldn't you think that means people would like your story well enough to make it a favourite? *Shrugs* 


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